Battery cabinets or battery racks are used to house groups of storage batteries and ancillary equipment and may be a component of battery backup systems as used in telephone, computer and other systems requiring auxiliary or uninterrupted power. The batteries may be required to supply high currents. As the batteries have a finite lifetime, and the connections to the batteries require servicing, such as verifying or resetting the torque of the connection, easy access to the battery terminals and to the batteries for servicing and replacement is desired.
Where the batteries are arranged so as to be disposed in rows situated directly above each other, the structure of an upper battery interferes with access to a lower battery, particularly with respect to the battery terminals, which are difficult to access if they are disposed on the top surface of the battery. A large vertical space may have to be provided between adjacent tiers of batteries to permit clearance for servicing tools such as wrenches and the like. Such an arrangement increases the height of a battery cabinet or rack and has undesirable economic and ergonomic consequences. Alternatively, the terminals of the batteries may be disposed on a front surface of the battery. Even with such a construction, the placement of the batteries in vertically oriented tiers directly above one another limits access for tools, requiring extension parts for the tools or specialized fasteners.
In another configuration, the battery connection terminals may be at the top of the battery, but extended to the front face of the battery by “L”-shaped brackets. In this circumstance, one end of the “L”-shaped bracket is bolted to the battery terminal on top of the battery, and the battery cable is bolted to other end of the bracket at the front face of the battery; such construction increases the number of joints or connections, increasing the circuit resistance and involving more maintenance and reduced reliability.
The servicing of batteries by replacement, and the maintenance of the installation, involving inspecting, torquing or otherwise tightening the cable connections to the batteries would be facilitated if convenient top access to a portion of the battery at one end thereof, where the battery terminals are located was provided.